Newly discovered "Bubble #shark" found in #Philippines

By DJ Yap Philippine Daily Inquirer/Asia News Network Sunday, Sep 30, 2012 BATANGAS CITY - An odd-looking sea creature locally christened the "bubble shark" is breathing new life into a campaign to preserve a vital marine corridor straddling five provinces in the Southern Tagalog region. Discovered only last year by marine biologists, the bubble shark, also described as an "inflatable shark" and believed to be a new species of swell shark, has been observed in waters off Batangas and Mindoro island. It is so named because of its defence mechanism to puff up to twice its size in the face of danger. For environmental officials, the discovery of the weird shark adds new meaning to efforts to save the Verde Island Passage Marine Corridor (VIPMC), a bustling sea-lane renowned for having some of the highest concentrations of shore-fish and underwater life in the world. "It's a w...